Ball projecting toy



May 28, 1963 E. M. HARBERTS BALL PROJECTING TOY Filed June 15. 1960 J mumw INVENTOR. EUGENE M. HARBERTS United States Patent ()flice 3,091,462 Patented May 28, 1963 3,091,462 BALL PROJECTING TOY Eugene M. Harberts, Yorkville, Ill. Filed June 15, 1960, Ser. No. 36,212 11 Claims. (Cl. 273-96) This invention relates to improvements in ball projecting toys, relating particularly to a device which ejects and simultaneously imparts a rapid back spin to the ball.

Ball projecting toys heretofore made usually project a ball either forwardly or upwardly, or both, without any controlled spin. The retrieving of the ball after such a flight presents numerous problems which are difficult for small children to contend with under the varying conditions and obstacles which prevail indoors and outdoors.

It is an object of my invention to impart a controllable, positive, rapid back spin motion to the ball when it is projected, thereby enabling the child or other operator to control with a high degree of accuracy the initial flight of the ball and the manner and direction of its bounce when it falls to the floor, sidewalk or other such surface. Thus, the ball can be made to bounce and drop to rest in a selected small area remote from the operator, or may be caused to bounce sharply back toward the operator, who may easily retrieve it by catching it in the receptacle provided on the toy.

The attainment of the foregoing objects and other objectives mentioned hereinafter come within the purview of this invention.

The accompanying drawing shows a preferred embodiment which has been selected to illustrate the nature of the invention.

In the drawing, FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the toy.

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the device, showing the striker fully retracted.

FIGURE 3 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view taken on the line 33 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 44 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 5 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 55 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged detail view of the latching mechanism for holding the striker in fully retracted position.

The device is preferably made of light weight material, such as wood or plastics, and of such size that a small child may easily hold it in one hand.

A frame, generally indicated as 11, is provided at its rear end with a handle 12, and provides a longitudinal slideway for a wedge-shaped striker 13. The striker moves through the longitudinal slot 14 and is secured on or may be integral with a base 15 whose side margins extend into opposite grooves such as 16 to hold the striker in its slideway. A post 17 fixed on the frame near its forward end provides an anchor for one end of a rubber band 18, whose other end is engaged over the post 19, the latter extending downwardly from the striker base through the longitudinal slot 20. The rubber band serves as a resilient propulsion means for the striker, whose forward travel may be limited by a rubber bumper 21. Preferably a strip of sandpaper 22 is secured to the upper inclined surface of the striker. In place of the sandpaper I may use any surface material which is capable of imparting a strong back spin to the ball.

To draw the striker back from its advanced position, shown in dotted lines in FIGURE 3, the operator may grip the striker with his fingers, or engage the post 19 with one finger to retract the striker, or may grip both the striker and post 19. As a convenience, a conventional spring loaded latch is provided for holding the striker in fully retracted position, whenever the operator chooses to retract it that far. The upper finger 23 of the latch may be provided with a book 24 to be engaged with a suitable notch 25 cut in the top surface of the striker. A rearwardly extending finger 26 of the latch, integral with finger 23, serves as the releasing finger or trigger. Intermediate these fingers the latch is hingedly engaged with a pintle pin 27 supported in a conventional manner on a bracket (not shown in detail) while a stop flange 28 integral with the latch fingers prevents the latch from being rotated too far forwardly by the conventional wrap around coil spring 29 after the striker has been released from the latch. An inclined surface 31 on the striker coacts with the latch to set and lock the latch automatically when the striker is being fully retracted.

At the forward end of the frame 1 there is mounted in any suitable manner a cage which serves two purposes. The rear wall 32 of the cage is notched out at 33 to permit the entrance of the striker underneath the ball 34, shown in dotted lines. By inclining the forward end of the frame upwardly with respect to the handle end, to roll the ball against the notch, the margins of the notch loosely retain the ball centered in the path of the striker. The margins of the slot 14 also help to hold the ball centered in the path of the striker.

The ball selected for use with this toy should be of such a diameter as to fit loosely in the cage and to project somewhat into the rectangular notch 33. It may be a conventional table tennis ball or a conventional soft rubber ball such as children have used for decades for bouncing on sidewalks.

The cage is further provided with longitudinal side walls 35 and 36 and an end wall 37. Thus the operator may use the cage for catching the ball, particularly if he has projected it so that the bounce and back spin will cause it to bounce back toward him within his reach, which is easily accomplished.

To use the toy to cause the bounce and back spin to return the ball to within reach of the operator, he places the ball in the cage, retracts the striker, allowing the ball to roll back to the notch 33. He then retracts the striker as far as he wishes, and raises the forward end of the frame to any angle which may range up to 45, or more, depending on the character of the floor, carpet or other surface on which the ball is to bounce, and then releases the striker. The striker slides under the ball, projecting it upwardly and forwardly without touching the cage walls, imparting to it at the same time a very rapid back spin. On the first bounce the ball should bounce back toward the operator and may easily be caught in the cage.

Optionally, the operator may decrease the inclination of the frame and project the ball farther from him, such as ten feet or more, so that it will not bounce back to him, yet the back spin will cause it to bounce several times within and come to rest within a small selected target area.

It is found that, by varying the angle of inclination of the longitudinal axis of the frame, several controls are obtained upon the motion imparted to the ball. The travel of the ball in a vertical plane, upwardly, forwardly, or even rearwardly over the operator, may thus be controlled and varied. Also, the velocity or revolutions per minute of the back spin of the ball may thus be controlled and varied. The speed at which the striker engages the ball is another factor in controlling the flight and the subsequent bounce of the ball.

As a further use which may be achieved from these controls, the operator may not only incline the frame :as explained above, but also rotate it somewhat about its longitudinal axis. Thereafter, upon releasing the striker,

the ball may be made to bounce on its back spin under accurate control to one side or the other toward another player having another of these toys. Thus, two players lgay direct the ball on the bounce back and forth between t em.

The cage not only assists in recovering the ball but facilitates positioning and retaining it for projection, and may be varied in size and shape to suit the expected skill of the operators.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention is shown herein, it should be understood that the invention is not limited to the details shown, but includes modifications and variations without departing from the scope of the invention defined by the appended claims.

Having shown and described my invention, I claim:

1. A ball projecting toy comprising, -a frame, a slideway extending longitudinally on the frame and a striker guidedly mounted thereon, means including a cage mounted to straddle the forward end of the slideway for catching a ball therein and adapted for positioning the ball astride the forward portion of the slideway, the upper surface of the striker being inclined upwardly from its forward edge, the slideway being adapted for guiding the forward edge of the striker under the positioned ball, and means for propelling the striker forwardly adapted for propelling the striker under the ball in sliding frictional contact therewith thereby imparting an upward and back spin motion to the ball, said positioning means and cage being so shaped, positioned and adapted as to be normally out of the path of the ball during its said upward splnning motion.

2. A ball projecting toy comprising an elongated frame, "a wedge-shaped striker mounted on said frame slidably and having an inclined upper surface, means operatively connected with the striker adapted for resiliently propelling the striker forwardly from the rear portion of the frame, means adapted for positioning a ball near the forward portion of the frame astride the path of forward movement of the inclined surface of the striker, the slidable mounting of the striker being adapted for guiding the lowermost portion of said inclined surface of the striker under the positioned ball during forward motion of the striker imparting to the ball an upward and back spinning motion, and a cage mounted on the frame adapted for use by an operator for catching the ball after it has been projected, said positioning means and cage being so shaped, positioned and adapted as to be normally out of the path of the ball during its said upward spinning motion.

3. A ball projecting toy comprisingthe combination of a resilient spherical ball, a rigid member, a wedge-shaped striker and means slidably mounting it on said member, means on said member adapted for retaining said ball in the pathway of the striker, said striker having its upper surface inclined upwardly and rearwardly from the forward margin thereof, said retaining means being further adapted for supporting the ball with its lowermost extremity higher than the path of travel of the forward margin of said inclined surface to enable said margin to pass under the ball, means adapted for propelling the striker forwardly and coacting with said mounting means adapted for causing the inclined surface of the striker to move under the retained ball in frictional sliding contact therewith simultaneously projecting the ball upwardly and imparting a rapid back spin motion thereto, said reraining means being so shaped, positioned and adapted as to be normally out of the path of the ball during its said upward spinning motion.

4. A ball projecting toy comprising the combination of :a resilient spherical ball, a rigid member, a striker and means mounting it on the member for slidable movement in a longitudinal straight pathway, means on the forward portion of the member adapted for loosely retaining said ball astride the pathway of the striker, said striker having its upper planar surface inclined upwardly and rearwardly from its forward margin, said ball retaining means being adapted for vertically supporting the ball at such level relatively to the pathway of said forward margin that the ball will roll with a back spin motion up said planar surface when engaged by the striker, said retaining means being further adapted for providing a rear support to be engaged by the ball when the forward end of said member is tilted upwardly, means adapted for propelling the striker forwardly and coacting with said mounting means for causing the inclined forward surface of the striker to move under the retained ball in frictional contact therewith simultaneously projecting the ball upwardly and imparting thereto a rapid back spin, said retaining means and the forward portion of said member being so shaped, positioned and adapted as to be normally out of the path of the ball during its upward spinning motion.

5. A ball projecting toy comprising a slidable striker, the striker having an upper surface inclined upwardly from its forward margin, means for retaining a ball in the forward portion of the pathway of the said inclined surface of the striker, guide means adapted for slidably guiding the inclined surfaced striker under a ball positioned in said retaining means in frictional contact therewith, means for propelling the striker forwardly causing the striker to engage the under side of the ball and impart to the ball simultaneously an upward and rapid back spin motion as the ball rolls along said inclined surface, and a cage supported on the forward portion of said guide means and communicating with said retaining means adapted for use by an operator for catching the ball subsequent to its projection and for delivering it to the retaining means, said cage and retaining means being so shaped, positioned and adapted as to be normally out of the path of the ball during its upward and back spinning motion.

6. A ball projecting toy comprising the combination of a resilient spherical ball, frame means, a striker and means movably mounting the striker on the frame means for movement through a predetermined pathway, means connected to the frame means adapted for loosely retaining said ball astride a forward portion of the pathway of the striker, said retaining means having spaced apart lateral and rear portions adapted for supporting the ball laterally, vertically and rearwardly and having a partially open bottom portion through which the striker advances when engaging the ball, the striker having an upper surface inclined upwardly and rearwardly from its forward margin, and means for propelling the striker forwardly toward a ball positioned in said retaining means adapted for causing the forward margin of the striker surface to move under the ball in frictional contact with the under surface of the ball thereby imparting both upward motion and back spin motion to the ball, said retaining means being so shaped, positioned and adapted as to be normally out of the path of the ball during its entire upward spinning motion.

7. A ball projecting toy comprising the combination of a resilient spherical ball, frame means, a striker movably mounted on said frame means and having an upper surface inclined upwardly and rearwardly from its forward margin, means connected to said frame means adapted for loosely retaining said ball in the pathway of the striker and having means providing vertical and rear support for the ball with both supports out of the pathway of said inclined striker surface, and means for propelling the striker forwardly toward a ball positioned in said retaining means adapted for causing the forward margin of the striker surface to move under the ball in frictional contact therewith imparting both upward motion and a rapid back spin motion to the ball, said retaining means being so shaped, positioned and adapted as to be normally out of the path of the ball during its entire upward spinning motion.

8. A toy in accordance with claim 1, in which the inclined surface of the striker is provided with a coating adapted to have a high frictional reaction with the ball surface for inducing rapid back spin motion of the ball.

9. A toy in accordance with claim 3, in which the inclined surface of the striker is provided with a material having a high frictional reaction with the ball surface for inducing rapid back spin motion of the ball.

10. A toy in accordance with claim 5, in which the inclined surface of the striker consists of a material adatped to have a high frictional reaction with the ball surface for inducing rapid back spin motion of the ball.

11. A toy in accordance with claim 7, in which the inclined surface of the striker consists of a material adapted to have a high frictional reaction with the ball surface for inducing rapid back spin motion of the ball.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 908,328 Raclyeft Dec. 29, 1908 1,182,444 Auch May 9, 1916 1,419,538 Blando June 13, 1922 2,722,211 Eisele Nov. 1, 1955 2,801,853 Lombardo et al. Aug. 6, 1957 

1. A BALL PROJECTING TOY COMPRISING, A FRAME, A SLIDEWAY EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY ON THE FRAME AND A STRIKER GUIDEDLY MOUNTED THEREON, MEANS INCLUDING A CAGE MOUNTED TO STRADDLE THE FORWARD END OF THE SLIDEWAY FOR CATCHING A BALL THEREIN AND ADAPTED FOR POSITIONING THE BALL ASTRIDE THE FORWARD PORTION OF THE SLIDEWAY, THE UPPER SURFACE OF THE STRIKER BEING INCLINED UPWARDLY FROM ITS FORWARD EDGE, THE SLIDEWAY BEING ADAPTED FOR GUIDING THE FORWARD EDGE OF THE STRIKER UNDER THE POSITIONED BALL, AND MEANS FOR PROPELLING THE STRIKER FORWARDLY ADAPTED FOR PROPELLING THE STRIKER UNDER THE BALL IN SLIDING FRICTIONAL CONTACT THEREWITH THEREBY IMPARTING AN UPWARD AND BACK SPIN MOTION TO THE BALL, SAID POSITIONING MEANS AND CAGE BEING SO SHAPED, POSITIONED AND ADAPTED AS TO BE NORMALLY OUT OF THE PATH OF THE BALL DURING ITS SAID UPWARD SPINNING MOTION. 